The Nyatiti is a wonderful musical instrument that is perfect for singing praises and honouring somebody and it is my African instrument of choice to honour the kind of Kenyans I meet and feel proud to be a Kenyan. On the other hand the drum can be used for many things. Drums are beaten before some executions which is what I wish I could do to some of the Kenyans I meet, but for now drums of protest will do. Welcome to Kumekucha’s column that puts personalities, faces and real life incidents into nationals of the great sleeping giant nation called Kenya. Every Tuesday or Wednesday only here in the most popular blog on Kenyan news and politics.Semi-permanent Cosmetics in Africa
Have you ever heard of semi-permanent cosmetics? Can you imagine waking up with make up for a long time to come? Say 3 to 4 years? Imagine the time you would save. The sheer convenience…
Well thanks to a very innovative young Kenyan called Jared H. Babu a micropigmentologist, this service is now available in Kenya. And you can hardly find it anywhere else in Africa outside South Africa.
The story of how he came across this business is telling.
It all started when he got an opportunity to travel to the United States with a relative who wanted him to study the finer details of a product that he had secured a distributorship for. It was for bullet proof car tyres. So while Jared was in Los Angeles studying the finer details of the car tyre that can withstand any automatic weapon bullets without getting deflated, he decided that he would keep his eyes open for a woman’s product that would do well back home in Kenya. Now this is very interesting because we all know that when most Kenyans land in Western countries they are solely focused on how they can stay on (mostly as illegal immigrants) and look for a job to get rich on. This young guy was instead looking for business opportunities to take back home with him.
He found it in semi-permanent make-up and trained for a year and a half to graduate as a certified permanent cosmetic professional. He now offers this service to enthusiastic ladies dropping in at his premises at Old Mutual Building on Kimathi Street. He can be reached on +254 722-691272. Or email:- tattooingwithstyle@gmail.com
Join me in playing a nice Nyatiti tune to honour this innovative Kenyan whose every effort should be greatly encouraged.
Are poor people fools?
When people talk, they will always let slip their real feelings and prejudices. A rather fascinating comment appeared in this blog that reflects the feelings thoughts and beliefs of many privileged Kenyans. They referred to the poor people of Kenya a some kind of idiots who don’t have the slightest clue.
Now this is a very widely held belief in Kenya amongst the political class. They believe that poor people are fools. I once heard this view expressed by a rich man’s kid who said something I will never forget. He posed the question; why don’t those poverty stricken Kibera guys just come into town and use their brains and hassle and make money just like everybody else? I laughed bitterly at this great naivety displayed. But after a while I realized that I was no better than this guy. I was assuming that everybody has been privileged enough like I have been to live virtually everywhere in Kenya amongst the stinking rich and also amongst the most desperate folks you have ever met.
Let me answer the rich kid’s question because know that there are multitudes reading this who would pose the same question. In many cases the Kibera folks have NOT had the same opportunities as many of us have had. And I am not talking about education only. There is the even more important thing called exposure. Of course folks like this rich kid’s dad are to blame. They have gotten rich stealing from the poor, like a vast majority of Kenyans. The recent scandal in the Ministry of education where the government is scrambling to do damage control is a perfect example of this.
Little wonder that recently while showing somebody around some leafy suburbs of Nairobi I remarked; “And this is where the thieves live.”
Join me will you, in beating drums of protest at those Kenyans who believe that poor people are poor because they are stupid. Who is more stupid here?
what is being stupid?
ReplyDelete'stupidity' can be defined as lacking intelligence (one of several definitions). Do poor people lack intelligence? Yes and no! How would we know, how can we tell? this is a difficult thing, but let us make it easy for ourselves and concentrate on Kenya's poor (economically poor that is)if at all they they are stupid then this stupidity must manifest itself in one way or another. Does anyone have any examples of stupidity played out by the so called poor here in Kenya? i can tell you a lot of stupid things the so called rich political elite have done! and by the way not all those who live in leafy suburbs have stolen from the poor after all you can only steal so much from a poor man
The reason you will never be wealthy is the belief that "rich people got their wealth through stealing from the poor":
ReplyDeletethat's an oxymoron right there, if people are poor there is nothing worth stealing.
There are many people who have become wealthy through hard work and creativity
Kenyans are not poor due to lack of resources they are poor because they believe, that they are poor , ,they lack creativity or ingenuity and basic lack of entrepreneurial skills.
We have failed to take advantage of the resources at our disposal yet foreigners come to our country with the exact same resources and prosper we need to emulate them.
majority of the rich in kenya got their wealth through corruption and there is no doubt about that. even only the poor could rise up against these bunch of thieves which is about 10,000 kenya would be a better place.
ReplyDelete@John Maina.
ReplyDeleteThere are four groups of Kenyans, those who have no clue, those who are afraid of the unknown, those who work very hard and those who work smart.
Take the risk and join those Kenyans who are willing to work smart in the next decade and you will never sing the same old song Every Where Corruption! Everyone Corrupted! Kenyan Corruption! They Are Corrupt! Who Corrupted? Wote! Wale Watu! in December of 2020.